A BRUTAL rapist who left a victim like “a broken animal” after subjecting her to an ordeal of “unbelievable violence” was today given a life sentence.

Andrew Peters kept the battered woman prisoner and made her scrub herself and his home in a bid to destroy evidence of his harrowing attack.

A court heard how broken bits of her teeth were found in the hallway of Peters’ former flat in Inverness and the woman tried to smear blood behind the headboard of his bed.

The woman said: “I was thinking: if I am going to die, possibly someone will find it.”

A judge told Peters, 34, at the High Court in Edinburgh that he had subjected the woman to “a horrific ordeal of cruel and degrading violence and sexual abuse as a result of which she suffered severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment”.

Lord Uist said he was sure that anyone who listened to graphic and dramatic account would never forget it.

He added: “There was stunned silence in court.”

The judge said: “There was blood over the walls. There was unbelievable violence.”

He added: “She has been profoundly effected by the violence which you meted out to her.”

He told Peters, who has a previous assault conviction, that it was clear he was “a serious danger to women and that he was satisfied that an Order for Lifelong Restriction should be made.

He ordered that Peters, formerly of Inverness, must serve seven and a half years in prison before he becomes eligible to apply for parole but warned him that he must not assume he will automatically be released.

Under an OLR a prisoner will only be released by the parole authorities when it is considered that holding him in custody is no longer necessary for the protection of the public.

If freed he is kept under supervision.

The judge said that he would order Peters be held at the high security State Hospital at Carstairs because of mental disorder.

If Peters’ condition improves he can be transferred to a mainstream prison.

Peters was previously found guilty of raping two women in Inverness on March 9 in 2011 and November 4 in 2012, leaving the latter victim seriously injured.

During the earlier attack he subjected his first victim, 24-year-old, to a torrent of abuse as he slapped her face and banged her head against a headboard while raping her twice.

The second victim, who was a stranger to Peters, told how a chance meeting in an Inverness bar led to her going to his home.

She was lured to the house by her interest in the nearby canal and boats but found herself subjected to an 10-hour ordeal.

Once there she said there was “an attitude shift”.

Case heard: Edinburgh High Court

Peters made her stare at the floor, accusing her of looking at his belongings because she wanted to return to steal them.

He began calling her names and insulting her as she tried to leave.

The woman was asked during Peters trial in 2013 how he had reacted and replied: “It is something of a blur, but I remember teeth in my mouth.”

After the ensuing night of terror, she said: “I was like a broken animal wanting to hide by then. I just wanted to crawl under the bedclothes and hide.”

When Peters finally allowed her to leave she went to a car park at a nearby store and dialled 999.

The trial heard a recording of the mother-of-two begghing for help and saying she had been subjected to a 10-hour ordeal of rape and abuse.

She told how the sex attacker made bizarre demands, forcing her to pose naked “like a mannequin” as he repeatedly raped her.

During the call she said: “He even made me scrub the bed and put the sheets in the washing machine.”

“He pushed me in the shower. He made me shower,” she said.

When police and paramedics arrived at the car park she was taken to Raigmlore Hospital for a wound at the back of her head to be glued together.

Police doctor Dr Milosz Bieniecki carried out a top to toe examination of the woman who had two black eyes, a broken nose, a bite mark on her breast and numerous bruises to her arms, legs and body.

His report concluded: “The woman was the victim of a vicious assault of a sexual nature. Her injuries are consistent with her story and caused by multiple - more than 20 - blows.”

The doctor said that he had to give the woman tranquillisers so that he could carry out the examination of the victim properly.

The woman, who gave her evidence from behind screens at Peters’ trial, said: “There was a moment when I suddenly came to in the bedroom and he ordered me to take my clothes off or he would punch me again. He had an expression: that he would burst me.”

She said Peters was “wired” angry and very aggressive. She told how he raped her, made her shower and raped her again, keeping up a string of theats if she did not do exactly what he wanted.

As the next morning came he did not seem to know what to do, she said.

He started talking about the canal and body bags and how he might wait until dark.

At one stage he showed her a knife and said that if she told anyone what had happened, one day he would come up behind her and she would feel the blade.

She said: “I honestly thought at this point: this is how my life is going to end.

Peters had denied the attack on the mother-of-two but was found guilty of the offence during which he locked the door to the house and detained her, punched her, held his fist to her face and demanded she take her clothes off, twisted her nipples, spat on her, pushed her face into a pillow and repeatedly raped her.

He was also convicted of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by forcing the woman under threat to scrub blood stains, to wash bedding and clean a mattress and force her to scrub her body and privates.

Defence counsel Donald Findlay QC said Peters continued to deny criminal conduct over the incidents.

He said: “This is a man who has had a long history of mental health issues.” Peters was diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder.

Peters was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

Speaking after the sentencing, Andy Shanks, Procurator Fiscal High Court for the north of Scotland said: "The actions of Andrew Peters have devastated the lives of two women but it is thanks to these women, who were brave enough to report their horrific ordeals, that we have been able to bring him to justice.

"Victims can have confidence that their cases will be handled by specialists who are committed wherever possible to bringing those who commit sexual offences of any kind to justice."